Day: November 16, 2021

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc on November 16 lauded contributions of voters in Ho Chi Minh City to COVID-19 containment and socio-economic development.

The leader made the praise at a meeting with voters in Districts 1 and 3 and Binh Thanh district, saying individuals and collectives that have greatly contributed to the pandemic fight should be honoured.

HCM City is one of the localities hardest hit by the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, he said, sharing huge losses and difficulties facing the local Party Committee, authorities and residents.

Phuc suggested the city concretise the “dual goal” strategy into phased objectives for effective implementation as the pandemic is still developing complicatedly.

The country’s biggest economic centre was also urged to take bold actions to restore investment, consumption and export activities, quickly reboot its supply chain and attract labourers to serve the recoveryThe President said HCM City should pay more attention to high-skilled personnel training, and addressing difficulties facing people and businesses.

He asked the city to prepare the best possible conditions for school reopening, promote digital transformation to deal with loopholes in management, improve its business environment and review all urban planning schemes.

Earlier the same day, President Phuc and National Assembly deputies met voters in Cu Chi and Hoc Mon districts, where he ordered preparedness for a new wave of COVID-19 outbreaks.

At the meetings, local voters were informed about results of the second session of the 15th legislature. They also raised opinions on issues regarding security, politics, social order and safety, and socio-economic matters.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan visited several units in the central province of Quang Tri on November 16.

The delegation visited Thanh Co Junior High School – the flagship of the educational sector in Quang Tri town, and awarded 30 gifts to the school’s poor students with good academic performance of the school.

In order to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the coming time, Xuan emphasised the need for the school management board to well innovate the way of teaching and learning to adapt to the complicated situation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the occasion of Vietnamese Teachers’ Day (November 20), the Vice President extended congratulations to teachers of the school in particular and Quang Tri province in general.

On the same day, Xuan laid wreaths and offered incense at Party General Secretary Le Duan’s monument, visited Heroic Mothers Tran Thi Loan and Tran Thi Niem in Trieu Phong district.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam will need about 313 trillion VND (13.7 billion USD) to develop a modern seaport system between now and 2030, and the funding will mostly come from non-budget sources.

During 2011 – 2020, about 202 trillion VND was poured into developing seaport infrastructure, accounting for 20.6 percent of total investment in transport infrastructure.

Of the figure, more than 173 trillion VND, or 86 percent, was non-State budget capital, according to the Vietnam Maritime Administration.

Many of the world’s leading maritime transport and seaport operating enterprises have been present in the country.

Among them, the Danish group of APMT, the world’s second largest seaport operator, has invested in the Cai Mep International Terminal in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province; the UAE’s DP World, the fifth largest operator, has invested and operated the Saigon Premier Container Terminal in Ho Chi Minh City; and SSA Marine of the US, ranking ninth, has channeled funding into the SP-SSA International Terminal in Ba Ria – Vung Tau.

Thanks to private and foreign investment, the seaport system in Vietnam has enjoyed breakthrough growth.

The country has established 32 sea lanes, including 25 international shipping routes and seven domestic ones. Apart from the routes linking with Asian destinations, there are two routes to North America from the northern region and 16 others to North America and Europe from southern Vietnam, the Maritime Administration said.

The master plan for seaport development during 2021 – 2030, recently approved by the Prime Minister, looks to develop a modern seaport system with high-quality services meeting socio-economic development demand and able to handle 1.14 – 1.42 billion tonnes of cargo, including 38 – 47 million TEUs of container goods.

To that end, about 313 trillion VND is needed, mostly from non-budget sources, enterprises’ investment, and other legal sources. Meanwhile, funding from the State budget will focus on public maritime infrastructure and key zones so as to give a boost to investment attraction, the administration noted.

Some economic experts held that to have a modern seaport system that is able to compete with others in regional countries, aside from existing investment forms, Vietnam should have representative agencies of the State like port management boards or authorities to mobilise resources for building ports and inviting tenders for port operation.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Vietnam’s Hoa Sen University has claimed two second prizes at the 2021 MICE Destination Marketing Contest, intended for students majoring in tourism from around the world.

The contest was organised by the Taiwan (China) External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) in both online and offline formats.

It saw the participation of 17 teams from Taiwan, mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam in three rounds, consisting of Marketing and Proposal-Planning requiring proposals written in English in a length of more than 10 A4 pages, Virtual Exhibition and Booth Design, and English Tour Guide presentation.

Vietnam’s Hoa Sen Dragons team, a group of four students and a lecturer majoring in tourism service and travel management, came second in the Best Exhibitions & Visual Design and Best Tour Guide categories for their project named Ascending Dragon – Intriguing Nuances, marking the university’s highest awards over five years of participating in the contest.

The team impressively introduced Vietnam’s cultural and historical values and vivid local life to international friends, in the virtual presentation on the iconic destination of Hanoi.

Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) is a type of tourism service that is planned in advance and designed for large groups of people for particular purposes. Exploiting the MICE market is one of the goals of Vietnam’s tourism development strategy.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Some 93.38 percent of electricity customers have shifted to cashless payment so far, compared to last year’s 91.72 percent, according to the State-owned Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

Non-cash payment has been highly regarded by users as a safer and more convenient way to pay power bills as it helps prevent the spread of COVID-19 by limiting physical contact.

The EVN has been providing cashless payment services on its customer services mobile app, official websites and the national public services portal. Additionally, the group has cooperated with banks and payment intermediary service providers to offer customers with a wide range of options to make digital payments, for examples, through banking accounts, e-wallets and QR codes.

The company has also worked with its partners to give away promo codes and gifts in a bid to encourage more users to turn to non-cash payment.

According to AppotaPay’s forecast, Vietnam’s cashless payment market will grow strongly in the next three to five years. In particular, mobile money and e-wallets will be key services to help expand non-cash payments share in Vietnam.

A recent report by the Government showed out that cashless payments continue to become more popular, topping 36.28 quadrillion VND (1.6 billion USD) in the first nine months of 2021.

During the period, 435.25 million transactions worth 22.78 quadrillion VND were made via the Internet, up 54.1 percent in volume and 30.7 percent in value. More than 1.19 billion others worth over 13.5 quadrillion VND were conducted via mobile phone, surging 74.98 percent in volume and 93.69 percent in value.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Despite difficulties brought by COVID-19, Vietnam’s farm produce exports to Australia enjoyed positive growth, gradually conquering one of the most challenging markets in the world.

Head of the Vietnam Trade Office in Australia Nguyen Phu Hoa said Vietnamese brands have been gaining increasing trust in Australia, following a programme on building brands of Vietnamese products over the past years and efforts made by businesses.

Statistics of the General Department of Vietnam Customs showed that two-way trade neared 9.1 billion USD in the first nine months of 2021, a year-on-year surge of 50 percent.

It is noteworthy that farm produce exports expanded by 32 percent. Australian firms have reduced rice imports from other countries but still purchased a large volume of the grain from Vietnam.

Vietnam and Australia recently announced an Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy, aiming to soon bring the bilateral trade to 15 billion USD and open up chances for Vietnamese exporters to penetrate the Australian market in the coming time. Vietnam has carried out numerous projects and programmes to help the domestic business community improve their capacity and capitalise on free trade agreements (FTAs). The Ministry of Industry and Trade has set up a website on FTAs to provide information on the deals and Vietnam’s commitments. It also launched the Viet-Aus Trade app last year, which offers support and information for exporters.

At the same time, firms have paid due attention to gaining Certificates of Origin (C/O) for their products in a bid to be exempted from tariffs in accordance with the FTAs, Hoa added.

According to him, maintaining quality of products is the most important factor to keep competitive advantage. Exporters are also advised to keep updated on the Australian market in order to be prepared for arising problems.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

Trade has become a pillar of the growing bilateral relationship between Vietnam and the US, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Hoang Quang Phong said on November 16.

Speaking at a forum on promoting Vietnam-US trade in the new context, jointly organised by the VCCI, Business Forum Magazine and Vietnam Airlines in Hanoi, Phong said that Vietnam has been attractive to US businesses with a market of nearly 100 million consumers, positive growth, open policies, close connection with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market and other major markets in the world thanks to a network of free trade agreements.

The forum was held on the occasion of a regular commercial flight route between Vietnam and the US that was officially established by Vietnam Airlines to promote trade cooperation between the two nations.

Remarkable progress has been made since Vietnam and the US normalised their relations, meeting the interests of the governments, people and business communities of the two countries, Phong said.

He said that despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and its complicated developments which disrupted the supply chains, 2020 was the first year that the total trade turnover between Vietnam and the US has exceeded the 90 billion USD benchmark, reaching 90.8 billion USD.

Vietnam has become the 10th largest trading partner of the US, while the US is also the largest trading partner of Vietnam. Vietnam is one of the first countries in Asia to sign a trade agreement with the US.

Many commercial investment opportunities between the two countries will be opened up when there is a regular direct flight of Vietnam Airlines connecting the two countries, Phong said.

Vietnam’s export turnover to the US has increased by 230 percent, while exports from the US to Vietnam have also grown by more than 175 percent over the past five years. Key Vietnamese products exported to the US are machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts.

Participants at the forum exchanged views on issues related to the ways businesses can adopt to ensure their interests and tariff preferences when exporting to the US as well as matters that they should pay attention to meet high standards of product quality and dealing with technical barriers.

At the forum, Charles Ranado, Commercial Counselor of the US Embassy in Vietnam, handed over a certificate of routine flight licence to Vietnam Airlines, making it the first and only airline of Vietnam permitted to operate regular flights to the US at present.

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The People’s Committee of Hanoi has allowed an additional 12 local hotels to be utilised as quarantined facilities for people who have had direct contact with COVID-19 patients.

The people, who voluntarily chose to be quarantined at the hotels instead of normal quarantined areas, must cover the expense themselves.

The hotels are Hoa Binh Hotel, Muong Thanh Hanoi Grand Centre, Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Silk Path Hanoi, Hilton Garden Inn Hanoi, Hilton Hanoi Opera, Binh An 1 Hotel, Binh An 2 Hotel, Binh An 3 Hotel, Grand Vista Hanoi, Lake Side Hotel and Muong Thanh Grand Xa La Hotel.

The municipal People’s Committee has assigned the People’s Committees of Hoan Kiem district, Ha Dong district, Ba Dinh district and Soc Son district to coordinate with the city’s departments of health and culture to manage the people who have chosen to be quarantined at the hotels.

The additional hotels were put forward in a proposal on November 15. The People’s Committee previously assigned 23 local hotels, with a total of 2,640 rooms and 4,253 beds, as quarantine facilities for people who have been in contact with COVID-19 patients in the city.

The 23 hotels have so far hosted about 106,237 people since June 1, 2020.

Source: Vietnam News Agency